Yaabari's Avengeance
by redisthenewblackington
Summary: Red saves Lizzie's life at the cost of his own. Lizzington. Fulfilling a request from a follower on Tumblr. *warning: death one-shot*


AN - This is a one-shot to fulfill a request from a follower on Tumblr. To be honest, when I made the offer to take requests, I didn't think for even a second that someone might ask for a fic in which Red dies. I may be naive, but it just never crossed my mind. So, there's your warning, readers, ***this is a death one-shot***. If that isn't your cup of tea, then PLEASE, don't read it! I'm not trying to upset anyone.

With that said, it's only a one-shot, and as brief as it is, I think that I could have made it much worse. I'm really more of a fluff and smut writer, you know?

Disclaimed. I own nothing.

-...-...-...-...-

This wouldn't be Red's first time crossing over to the other side. He'd once felt his life slip away years ago, in Marrakech, but that was before Lizzie. His final thoughts were of his daughter, and though he didn't end up in hell, he didn't see her on the other side, either. It gave him just enough strength to fight, fight, fight his way back to the land of the living. It renewed his zeal to find her, thinking that she must still be alive, somewhere. More importantly, it gave him the courage to forcibly insert himself into Lizzie's life, because her role was paramount in the quest.

He has her, now. He has her in all of the most wonderful ways, ways that he could only ever fantasize about before, and even then, only with great reluctance.

When she so bravely lodged a bullet in Yaabari's skull, she hardly seemed to realize that Red already belonged to her, though he'd been telling her so for over a year. It was her relief for his still-beating heart that made her sit recalcitrantly in the backseat of his car, refusing to get out when they'd arrived at her motel. Now, there isn't a shower cold enough to extinguish his desire for her, but there's still plenty of bullets with enough power and precision to end his life.

This time, in his final moments, Red took only a few seconds to berate himself for the oversight for which he'd have to pay the ultimate price. There's a running bounty on his head - had been for decades. He used to be more careful about monitoring the threats, but lately, he'd been too preoccupied with dismantling the cabal and clearing Lizzie's name. How patently *stupid* that he should forget the man in Johannesburg that had secured Yaabari's invitation to the King auction.

He watched her expression shatter as he uncuffed her and then put the cuffs on his own wrists, securing himself to the metal pole in the basement where he had finally found her. "Lizzie, you have to go."

"They'll kill you!"

"If you don't go quickly enough, they'll kill you too."

The distant thunder of several men running in their direction filled the room, no doubt heralded by the gunshots that had killed the guards at the door.

She took a few seconds to kiss him, her nails desperately clutching at the back of his scalp, trying to commit the texture to memory.

"Now, Lizzie. You have to go NOW! It's your only chance. They'll be distracted when they find me. I'm the one they really want, anyway. You were just bait, but they WILL kill you if you're still here when they come in."

She had barely pulled back when she whispered, broken, her lips still brushing against his, "I love you, Raymond."

"I love you too, more than anything in the world. Always remember that you're worth it. Elizabeth, I'd do it all over again."

Another kiss, another desperate, 'I love you,' and she was gone.

Red strained his ears after she had finally heeded his pleas, listening for the sound of gunshots, or her voice - anything that might signal that she had been caught. Within less than a minute, three mountain-sized men entered, and he sighed in relief as they kicked the dead guards and approached him.

She made it.

She got away.

He wasn't surprised to hear them speaking to each other in Bantu, a language that he didn't know, but he didn't much care. They laughed loudly, boistrously patting each other on the back, and he understood that well enough.

He tried to get them to speak to him in English, not knowing whether they could or not, and not giving a damn either. He just wanted to buy Lizzie more time to get further away, in case they decided to look for her after taking care of him. "I'm sorry about your old friend, Yaabari, but you gentlemen seem to be doing very well for yourselves without him."

They all stopped laughing at once and simply looked at him, bemused.

Red continued, "I bet you'll get much more of that forty million for yourselves now, anyway. Here's a thought that shouldn't come as a surprise - I'm worth more than double the bounty on my head. How does one hundred million sound? You could rule Cameroon, hire an army of adults instead of children, invade Ghana and Nigeria. Hell, with a few sound investments, the entire Gulf of Guinea could be yours. I'll set you up with my broker in Denmark."

All three drew their guns and aimed them at his head.

"I see you men are tough negotiators. Fine. Will two hundred million suffice?"

Frankly, Red wasn't really bargaining for his own life - only hers, and even he had no idea what he was saying. As he rambled on, he thought about their last kiss, and then their first, the firm pressure of her legs wrapped around his waist, the smooth skin of her inner thighs, the sweet little sounds that escaped her lips when he made her eyes roll back for the very first time, the scent of the crook of her neck, the way she looked in his button-down shirts, the warm feeling that she gave him - the very best feeling of all, that he was loved, and that he was truly alive.

Her name fell from his lips one last time, and then he wasn't.


End file.
